The One Who Walks Into the Night

By editor in Ethics, principles and philosophy April 15, 2020

My favourite quote from the pandect, which I have adopted as my personal motto, is this one: “Tomorrow’s day will see the one who walks into the night” (The Five Pearls I, 10). Why this one? Because it formulates one of the most important principles, both for human life in general and for following the Teaching. It can be rephrased as: “Only those who do not run from difficulties but fight and overcome them, persistently moving forward, will see a better future.”

Usually, people are very afraid of difficulties, seeing them as something unnatural, as evil, and they dream of a peaceful life where there are none. But dreams of such a life are just a sweet illusion. There is no peace in this sense. Problems and difficulties always exist — of one kind or another. To borrow words from a famous song, there is an eternal struggle, and peace is only a dream. This is indeed so. And since this is the case, the pursuit of peace turns into a chase for the unattainable — and thus becomes another problem. A problem that takes away mental strength, distracts from truly important matters, and brings much disappointment. Therefore, it causes additional suffering, besides the suffering you’re trying to escape from.

But if peace, understood as the absence of problems, difficulties, and suffering, does not exist, then what exactly are these difficulties and sufferings? After all, are they something unnatural, abnormal for a person? No, by themselves — they are not. What can be unnatural, contrary to nature, are human actions; actions that lead to problems and generate evil. But problems and difficulties as such — whether caused by humans or otherwise — are a natural part of life. They appear in the process of life’s movement, in the process of development. After all, moving forward is almost always associated with some kind of resistance that must be overcome. And it is precisely overcoming resistance — that is, difficulties — that leads to results. There are many simple and vivid examples of this in human life. A child learns to walk — and it is hard and painful when they fall. Learning in school or university, mastering any profession or craft is associated with many difficulties — but it gives valuable results. Any socially useful activity, business, military service, or spiritual path — all these proceed through difficulties. Overcoming difficulties is the very movement toward success. And this is programmed into the very essence of Being. Being develops because it fights the tendency toward destruction. In the struggle for life, it becomes more perfect. This principle works throughout all of boundless Being, on all of its levels — including on the level of the evolution of our Universe and in ordinary human life. When we overcome difficulties, we not only develop ourselves, becoming stronger, better, more perfect, but we also participate in the same process on the scale of Being.

This means that difficulties are natural and even necessary. In reality, they help us. They help precisely because they hinder, however paradoxical that may sound. The absence of problems and difficulties, the arrival of peace — this is the cessation of movement, a stop. In other words, death.

For a follower of the Teaching, it is very important to understand all this. Such an understanding allows one to perceive any difficulty not as a catastrophe that breaks life and breaks the person psychologically and morally, but as another step in development, a chance to become better. However, this does not mean that one should deliberately seek problems for oneself. There is no need to look for or create difficult situations. Life will present enough problems on its own — and it will present them in abundance. And the higher the goals you set for yourself, the harder they will be to achieve, and the more opportunities you’ll have for development. The key is not to stand still, not to be fixated on trivial goals, and not to become a victim of small but numerous problems, which can sting to death, like a cloud of bees. There’s no escaping difficulties — so let it be for something worthwhile. Such a cause will already give you the strength to fight.

This applies to all people. And especially to the followers of the Teaching. For the Teaching, unlike false spiritual systems, does not lure people with tempting promises. It does not promise to solve all problems, the arrival of complete contentment, peace and happiness, fast spiritual growth, and paradise after the end of the earthly path. Quite the opposite, in fact. It offers knowledge and the possibility of spiritual development — but it honestly warns that this is not a quick process, and it is connected with labor and responsibility, with a heavy struggle against everything negative in oneself and society, with suffering and, perhaps, even with dangers, without which such a struggle cannot sometimes occur. In other words, instead of promises of an easy life, it warns that life may become even more complicated. And this is logical and understandable. After all, it is very naive to think that such essential things as knowledge and spiritual growth can come easily. The more valuable what you acquire, the more it costs: this is well known. Yes, the Teaching gives knowledge and does not require payment for it. But “getting knowledge” and “learning” are not the same thing. Knowledge is given for application in practice — otherwise it has no meaning. To study, to understand, to comprehend — this is already hard work, and often a struggle with negative qualities such as laziness, impatience, frivolity, and so on. And when you start applying the knowledge you’ve gained in practice, that’s when the real difficulties begin. It is hard to change for the better. It is hard to do something truly valuable for people and the world, to improve them. It is hard to resist various temptations. Sometimes it is even hard to lead an ordinary life — working, building relationships with people, raising children, etc. — while remaining principled and adhering to high moral standards. All of this is indeed very difficult in the modern world, in a consumer society, where pride, greed, cruelty, and immorality are prevalent.

Therefore, belonging to the Teaching means, among other things, walking toward difficulties, clearly understanding this. Every follower of the Teaching is the one who walks into the night. Does this sound a bit ambiguous? Only if you don’t know the meaning behind these words. For some, “walking into the night” means plunging into the darkness of spiritual emptiness, accepting it into oneself, and becoming it. But for us, people of the Teaching, “walking into the night” means walking toward difficulties and overcoming them, pushing through the darkness, and, as best we can, trying to light it. Walking through the night to gain the chance to see the rising sun. This is good for every single day, and it is a worthy goal for an entire life. Not just for a follower of the Teaching. For every person’s life.